First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who's been reading, voting and commenting, it really means a lot :) Also I wanted to tell you, guy, that this chapter is sort of the beginning of the end of this story which is gonna be 15 chapters btw,anyways, focus on the last part especially ;) Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 10

Maria ran back to the apartment after what she saw, to hide from Liam and Jackson terrified they might have seen her.

"Oh my God, why is everyone in the place so creepy? I mean do they give them creepiness doses as kids or something?! I feel so betrayed right now, what if Liam was the actual murderer? What if his father is in on it? What if he just pretended to help me so I wouldn't think it was him? Maybe he was the one at the house when I was in the wardrobe, not Wesley, but why? So I almost peed myself in the dead woman's closet for nothing, no wait, I got this stupid mp3 player and those silly notes from that jealous bitch ex-girlfriend, Eve." she thought "that's exactly what James meant by exposing myself, now Liam and Jackson know where I'm staying and they'd definitely send someone else to kill me. I really wish I haven't met you, Jessica, I would've been now at Twinbrook with David probably watching Netflix and far away from all of this."

Maria's phone rang interrupting her thoughts, it was Liam "OMG, what should I do? That totally means he knows what I know!"

"Hi Liam" she said trying to be as enthusiastic and normal as she could

"Hey, you forgot your jacket in my car, come down and get it; I'm parked in front of your building"

"I'm not going anywhere, you're just trying to lure me, so you could kill me liked you killed her. I know Liam, I saw you with Jackson!" she shouted

"Maria, what the hell are you saying, I didn't kill anybody and I'm not stupid enough to kill you especially in my car under the building where you're staying in the middle of the street!" he shouted back

"So what were you doing with Jackson" she said firmly

"He called me last night asking me to trail you, he was suspicious about you, about your timing to come to Sunset, your accident at the hotel and he told me you called him yesterday."

"WHAT? I never called..... Oh, wait that number, never mind Liam."

"No, it's my turn to ask the questions here, what are you really doing here in Sunset cause I'm not buying it, that you're here just to return a stupid notebook to a stranger. Why did you call Jackson? I wasn't that suspicious of you when Jackson called,until this morning when you asked me to help you break into the Buckleys' house!"

"I didn't kill her if that's what you're implying, what I told you this morning, is all true. The only reason I wanted to get into that house was to get answers; I have a powerful weapon Liam, that notebook which nobody else believes it's of any worth that's why I didn't tell the police about it. Nobody believes me, I'm the girl who cried notebook, and this sucks, so believe me or not Liam cause I don't give a damn anymore."

"So why did you call Jackson."

"Why do you even trust him? Dude, he was the one at the party, not me. He could've killed her, not me! I called him cause I found that number in the notebook and it was said to call if found; I didn't even know it would be his number."

"He said it was one of Sierra's phones."

"So you believe me now?" Maria interrupted

"I don't know what to believe anymore."

"All I know for now, out of experience, and what you should believe, officer, is that no one is to be trusted in here. My mind hurts, it keeps moving from Andrew to Eve to Andrew again then Eve again and again to you, to Jackson to your father to all of you together to any of the other guests that I don't even know yet."

"Yet? you can't be serious, stop those investigation games of yours or you're gonna get hurt."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a be-aware-call. Besides, what does my father even get to do with this? He's the police not the criminal"

"Exactly, you just said it, he's the police, he can easily get away with it."

"No one gets away with murder Maria."

"Well, you should watch more tv then, Viola Davis is doing a pretty incredible job with it, she just earned her second Emmy nomination."

"You're the most easily distracted person I've ever met. I'm not gonna warn you again, but my father and I are out of your little investigations."

"You know what? You can keep my jacket; it would only be a constant reminder that you were wrong cause I'm gonna solve this soon."

she ended that call with fury radiating out of her face "I feel you now Donald Duck, I'm gonna make a cup of green tea to calm my nerves."

she walked to the kitchen turned on the kettle and continued thinking "How the hell am I supposed to solve this soon? I have nothing! I'm gonna wait till James get home, maybe those blackmail notes would actually help him figure out something I'm not smart enough to figure out myself."

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Hours later, James arrives home only to find Maria looking down and upset like he never seen her before, he approached "Maria, are you okay?"

"Here" she said handing him the note "and before you say anything, I'm not in the mood to be reprimanded again."

"How did you get these?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it, please."

"Maria, what happened to you? I've never seen you that way before" he said patting her shoulder

She sighed turned to him saying "Why does everyone think I'm stupid? David, Liam, You." she paused "even my parents, nobody ever believes in me."

"We're just worried about you, no one would ever want to see you in danger. How do you know Liam though?"

"No, it's not just about this time, nobody ever believes in me" tears started streaming down her face "Liam is just a part of the thing I don't wanna talk about."

"What if I promise you no reprimanding this time" he laughed

Eventually, Maria agrees to tell him; detective James sighs heavily and buries his face in his palms in an attempt to control his temper.

"I'm trying real hard to keep my promise, but don't you think that wasn't a great idea, at all?!"

"Maybe, but you're not getting any warrant anytime soon and I found these, Eve was blackmailing Jessica, I knew something was off about her."

"Now Liam is suspecting you and Jackson knows what you know. How is that of any good? Tomorrow we're getting everyone tested, we need blood samples to know who's blood it is on the dagger, also to know who's the real daddy. Maria, please keep out of this one."

"Okay, I will. Now I wanna get some sleep, it's been a long and awful day."

"Sure, goodnight."

James left to his room and Maria tried to sleep, but her mind couldn't just shut down, she kept thinking about Miranda, the woman she saw sneaking out of that house. "What was she doing there? Was she hiding something? or was she planning false evidence?"

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The next morning, detective James went to meet up with detective Ethan at the hospital and all the suspects were in there, except for Keira who was upstairs in her room and Miranda who had to finish some work first.

the two detectives went to meet with the doctor conducting the tests "I already tested Keira" doctor George said "she's no match, the blood on the dagger is of a rare blood type, B-, Keira's A+"

"Thank you, doctor, do your magic, but can we stay in here to ask a few questions while you take the samples?" detective Ethan asked

"Sur detective, you're welcome to stay"

Andrew entered the clinic first to get tested.

"Hello, detectives, always a pleasure to see you."

"You too," said James

"So how is it going on the case? Did you figure out who the father is?"

"Not yet, but hopefully the doctors will in a few hours." James replied

Andrew gave a painful expression "No matter how old I get, I'm still terrified of needles. Anyways, I don't think that this test proves anything, these blood traces on the dagger could be from anyone simply cause almost everyone held that dagger during the party, anyone could've easily cut himself.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about." Ethan said

Andrew left and Eve came in next. as she entered, she gave the detectives the best fake smile she could, but her facial expression changed at all when James pulled out the notes from his pocket to show her "Care to explain?"

"I was clear with you detective during the interrogations when I said I hated Sierra, but that was it, I never hurt her, I just said that cause she was trying to steal my boyfriend. Andrew can deny it all he want, but I'm almost sure he's the father, isn't that why you're testing the other guys? Cause Jackson didn't turn out to be the father" she smirked as if she said the smartest thing ever.

"Smart girl, aren't you?" James said "Well, there's something that you left out of the equation, blackmailing is a crime."

"Maybe where you're from ,detective, not here. I'm all clean, I never hurt her physically and I never threatened her physically either."

After Eve left the room, Ethan turned to James asking him" Where did you get these?"

"I found them hidden in Sierra stuff at the station." James lied

"Haven't you thought about mentioning them to me earlier?"

"I wanted to, but I got distracted and I just remembered them as soon as I saw her."

Lily came into the clinic next looking unusual she was wearing a track suit, her hair was all messed up and she looked like she hasn't showered in a while. She walked over to the patients' seat, sat on it then turned her face the other way.

"Still petrified of blood?" said detective Ethan

"it's not something I can change sir and I'm pretty sure you already heard about my accident."

"We did; let me distract you for a while, to take you mind off of things, so any new thoughts about the murderer?"

"I know I said before that I think it was Keira, but I have a new theory; Wes did it and Keira knew that's why she got all crazy all of a sudden cause her husband cheated on her, probably the baby is his, then he killed her best friend; that's too much to handle."

"Thanks for sharing your thoughts" detective Ethan told her as she left the room.

The next to come in was Dr. Wesley, he was looking nervous and not focused that he even walked into a chair.

"Are you okay doctor?" James asked

'Yeah, I just didn't get much sleep."

"How is your wife doing?" Ethan said

"Keira, yeah she's alright."

"So can we now visit her?" asked detective James

"Maybe tomorrow, visiting hours are over by now."

Wesley left the room and Nina entered next; she was all nervous, sweaty and shaking

"Are you okay child?" Ethan asked

"I am"she took a seat, her eyes were filled with tears as she was trying to hold herself from crying

"Look, I'm gonna be blunt here; ever since the day I first saw you, I know you've been hiding something, don't know what exactly yet, but I assure you sooner or later we'll know, so you'd better some clean about it and be direct." James said

Nina broke down at his word, exhaling too fast and shaking even more "Ricky told me not to say a word, but I knew about the immune suppressive drugs before you did, because I found the pill bottle in my purse after the party, someone put it to blame me for their murder, but I didn't do it."

"Do you still have the bottle?" Ethan asked

"Yes, I buried it in my back garden ."

"Okay, let's go get it now! Continue the tests doctor till we get back." Ethan said

"No need detective, her blood matches."

"Only cause I cut my finger while cleaning before the party, I didn't kill her." she yelled

"Detective Ethan you should go with her to get the bottle, but I need to go to Miranda, I have an appointment, working on a new lead."

"Sure, inform me of any news."

"Okay." James said then he turned to face the doctor "Dr. George, get samples from the rest of the guys, we need to know the father fast."

"Sure, I'll get the samples and give them to Doctor Samuel to run the DNA tests."

The three of them went out of the room, Nina was crying, so Ricky ran over to her "are you okay?"

"Ricky, they know about the pills and they think I'm the killer cause my blood was on the danger."

Ricky held her in his arms to calm her down "Don't worry, it's gonna be okay."

"I don't think you're the murderer Nina, You're innocent until proven guilty" Ethan told her "You did the right thing by telling us. However, you need to take me now there in order to help us know who did it and is trying to frame you and then we can prove your innocence."

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Meanwhile, at Miranda's clinic, Maria sat outside reading a magazine waiting till the secretary came back and told her it's her time to get in.

"Hello" Miranda said "don't be afraid, I know it's hard talking to a stranger about how you're feeling, but sometimes, talking can be the best medicine. take a seat, don't be shy."

Maria sat "Hi doctor, my name is Jessica."

"Hi Jessica" she smiled "so what's your problem?"

"I'm afraid, constantly. I can't sleep, I can't trust anyone and recently I've started peeing myself in my sleep cause I have the worst nightmares."

"Peeing yourself, might be a cause of a physical issue, though, or nocturnal enuresis which would also need you visiting a psychiatrist."

"I keep having the same dream, nightmare I guess, about my friends killing me."

"Why don't you trust them?"

"They're evil, they kill, they blackmail, THEY BREAK INTO HOUSES."

"Did you see any of them doing these stuff you're saying or you're just assuming?"

"I saw the dead body, the notes and just yesterday, I saw her sneaking into a house."

"Yesterday." Miranda said as she closed the notebook where she was writing and put down the pen. "Bravo, nice play, I almost fell for it. Why are you really here? Are you an undercover cop on Sierra's murder or you're just a fool sticking your nose in places you shouldn't?"

"I knew Sierra, I just wanna know who killed her, so you better speak."

"Yes I went to that house yesterday, but only to do exactly what you were doing, searching for evidence. I know what I saw at the party and I needed to have proof for the police to believe me before he blamed any of us for the crime instead of him."

"Who are you talking about?"

"That Paedophile who's been dating his student, Ricky."

"He's dating his student?" Maria said in shock.

"She graduated now, but they've been together for long ever since she was his student, that's probably why he killed Sierra, cause she knew, she was actually the one who told me. He didn't wanna go to jail for dating a minor, not just any minor, his student, so he killed Sierra thinking that his secret would be buried with her, but i know his dirty secret. I wouldn't even be shocked if he was the one who impregnated Sierra."

"What makes you sure he did it?"

"At the party, just moments before the lights went off, I saw him standing outside the house, in the garden; he could've easily turned off the lights then killed her, probably his little minion girlfriend is in on it too."

"Did you tell the police?"

"I did, but from my perspective, they're not doing their job any effectively."

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After that conversation, Maria went outside to leave,but instead, she found detective James waiting."

"What the hell are you doing here? Go home now! We'll talk later."

Maria walked home thinking "I really didn't want to upset detective James, but I actually did get some important information fro that visit."

she reached home, sat on the couch and grabbed her bag to get her phone and James to sort of apologize and also tell him what she knew, but instead, she found the mp3 player "Oh, you're still her. let's check you out little guy."

she turned on the mp3 player, there was only one playlist "Favorites"

"Oh my God, not another favorites playlist! what the hell am I gonna do with these? Wait, what if the 2 playlists the one in the notebook and that one are somehow connected? what if Jessica actually left some clues behind? Maria you finally have something that could be important, something to work on to prove them all wrong! You don't need anyone to believe in you, you only need yourself to believe in you!" she said to herself.